4Rager
New member
Upon realizing that there is not a discount for ordering the Icon "kit" vs the price of each component individually, and a subsequent observation that Metal Tech has a sale for 30% off Light Racing UCA's for the rest of this month, I made a purchase and decided I might as well start documenting my (at this point mostly planned) build.
First of all, I live in Reno, NV and I purchased my 2014 Trail Edition Premium in December 2014. I came from a modified 2002 Audi A4 that got me through college and my first few jobs with its share of problems, but it was a love/hate relationship. I bought a 4Runner because I knew it would be reliable and I wanted to be able to go fishing/camping/hunting in places my Audi couldn't go and something that I could keep for the rest of my life. I knew even before I bought it that I was going to mod it, and from researching these forums I learned 33’s will require a lift. I told myself I would let the stock tires wear out, since I just paid for them, meanwhile I would research and save up for the lift/tires I wanted. I’ve also come to a realization that this truck is my daily driver, and though I plan to keep it forever and have dreams of running the Rubicon one day, it won’t be in this vehicle. That being said, I still have high expectation of this vehicle I would love for it to be more capable than it is today. I guess I should also add that I consider myself a pretty good driver who is not immune to getting in over his head, yet has spent a fair share of time driving SUV’s in snow and offroad, but this will be my first modded truck.
2002 A4 Quattro (looks like before I got Tien coilovers)
EDIT: Having a lowered Audi didn't stop me from visiting my favorite fishing spots (even though it should have). I found this photo of the exact rock that ripped off AC compressor hose, which led to a failed AC compressor, which was the beginning of the end for that poor vehicle. (KBB was ~$2500, but it had bad AC compressor and needed a new clutch. I removed the turbo kit and sold it to a junkyard for $850).
During the past year I've gone on plenty of adventures, tinted the front windows, upgraded the sound system, and added a K&N CAI (haters gonna hate). I’m at 17.5k miles. Like I mentioned above, the Metal Tech sale led me to purchase the first piece of my lift kit, so without further ado, here are the details of my planned build:
-Icon extended travel front coilovers with external reservoirs
-Light Racing upper control arms
-Icon V.S. 2.0 rear shocks
-Icon 2” springs
-285/70r17 on stock wheels
-Probably Duratrac’s but maybe Trail Grapplers or another MT
UPDATE: I'm giving a hard look at Fox. I think the progressive valving will be better for what I intend to do, being that it will be softer in the initial travel so better for bump absorption cruising down dirt roads, but it's not like it won't reach full compression when pushed in a crawling situation. I'm also told the rebuilds are cheaper and I plan to keep this truck forever.
Down the road:
-Metal Tech rock sliders
-Metal Tech rear lower links
-Replace stock Trail skids
-HID kit
-Exhaust
Way down the road:
-Maybe F & R bumpers
-Roof rack
-LED light bar
Here are some pictures of my adventures in stock form:
Not bad MPG
Stock tires...barf
It was on sale for "open box"
Stock flex pic for later comparison. Jealous bro?
At least the stock tires are good enough for this:
So anyway, this thread will disappear for a while since everything else won't be happening until my stock tires wear out in the next 8 months or so. But like I said, this is my first modded truck so I am open to all comments and suggestions. I think my next mod will be to paint the silver accents on the front and rear bumpers with black plastidip, along with the emblems. Also I need to edit a video from yesterday of my friend an I out on our usual trails in the mud (which is very rare out here) and watch the stock tires perform painfully bad like we all knew they would. Thanks for reading and I appreciate the questions/comments!
First of all, I live in Reno, NV and I purchased my 2014 Trail Edition Premium in December 2014. I came from a modified 2002 Audi A4 that got me through college and my first few jobs with its share of problems, but it was a love/hate relationship. I bought a 4Runner because I knew it would be reliable and I wanted to be able to go fishing/camping/hunting in places my Audi couldn't go and something that I could keep for the rest of my life. I knew even before I bought it that I was going to mod it, and from researching these forums I learned 33’s will require a lift. I told myself I would let the stock tires wear out, since I just paid for them, meanwhile I would research and save up for the lift/tires I wanted. I’ve also come to a realization that this truck is my daily driver, and though I plan to keep it forever and have dreams of running the Rubicon one day, it won’t be in this vehicle. That being said, I still have high expectation of this vehicle I would love for it to be more capable than it is today. I guess I should also add that I consider myself a pretty good driver who is not immune to getting in over his head, yet has spent a fair share of time driving SUV’s in snow and offroad, but this will be my first modded truck.
2002 A4 Quattro (looks like before I got Tien coilovers)
EDIT: Having a lowered Audi didn't stop me from visiting my favorite fishing spots (even though it should have). I found this photo of the exact rock that ripped off AC compressor hose, which led to a failed AC compressor, which was the beginning of the end for that poor vehicle. (KBB was ~$2500, but it had bad AC compressor and needed a new clutch. I removed the turbo kit and sold it to a junkyard for $850).
During the past year I've gone on plenty of adventures, tinted the front windows, upgraded the sound system, and added a K&N CAI (haters gonna hate). I’m at 17.5k miles. Like I mentioned above, the Metal Tech sale led me to purchase the first piece of my lift kit, so without further ado, here are the details of my planned build:
-Icon extended travel front coilovers with external reservoirs
-Light Racing upper control arms
-Icon V.S. 2.0 rear shocks
-Icon 2” springs
-285/70r17 on stock wheels
-Probably Duratrac’s but maybe Trail Grapplers or another MT
UPDATE: I'm giving a hard look at Fox. I think the progressive valving will be better for what I intend to do, being that it will be softer in the initial travel so better for bump absorption cruising down dirt roads, but it's not like it won't reach full compression when pushed in a crawling situation. I'm also told the rebuilds are cheaper and I plan to keep this truck forever.
Down the road:
-Metal Tech rock sliders
-Metal Tech rear lower links
-Replace stock Trail skids
-HID kit
-Exhaust
Way down the road:
-Maybe F & R bumpers
-Roof rack
-LED light bar
Here are some pictures of my adventures in stock form:
Not bad MPG
Stock tires...barf
It was on sale for "open box"
Stock flex pic for later comparison. Jealous bro?
At least the stock tires are good enough for this:
So anyway, this thread will disappear for a while since everything else won't be happening until my stock tires wear out in the next 8 months or so. But like I said, this is my first modded truck so I am open to all comments and suggestions. I think my next mod will be to paint the silver accents on the front and rear bumpers with black plastidip, along with the emblems. Also I need to edit a video from yesterday of my friend an I out on our usual trails in the mud (which is very rare out here) and watch the stock tires perform painfully bad like we all knew they would. Thanks for reading and I appreciate the questions/comments!
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congrats on the truck , welcome to the forum and glad to see you already enjoyed some of its potential in stock form.
